Where Are They Now? Jennifer Heider

In the long, illustrious history of Seton Hall Athletics, the early 1990’s stand out as a period of exceptional prosperity for the Pirates across the board.

From the time that freshman female swimmer Jennifer Heider stepped on campus in 1990 up until commencement ceremonies in 1994, The Hall captured seven team BIG EAST Championships; three on the track, two on the hardwood, one on the golf course and a fourth men’s soccer title in a six-year span.

In an era that featured some of the greatest student-athletes ever to represent Seton Hall, Heider was perhaps the most dominant in her respective sport.  The Nutley product wasted no time in cementing her name in Seton Hall lore, breaking six individual school records and swimming on five record-setting relay teams as the Pirates set a new program mark for best dual match winning percentage (9-2) in her first season.

Her freshman season also featured a pair of significant milestones that quickly established her as one of the most preeminent performers in school history. At the 1990 National Catholic Championships, Heider clocked in at 59.55 in the 100-yard backstroke, becoming the first SHU female to break the one-minute mark in the event. The climax of the groundbreaking season came at the 1991 BIG EAST Championship where Heider took the meet by storm by sweeping the 100 and 200-back events, becoming the first Seton Hall swimmer, male or female, ever to be crowned BIG EAST Champion.

The performance helped lead the Pirates to what still stands as their best-ever team finish at the conference meet. With Heider at the forefront of a group of talented young swimmers, then head coach Andy Lehner lauded his 90-91 squad; saying, “This team has put Seton Hall swimming at a new level. There’s no telling what our limits may be in the coming years.”

Lehner’s words proved to be prophetic as Heider continued to post unprecedented times throughout her time in South Orange. As a sophomore, she returned to the National Catholic Championships at Notre Dame and this time returned home as the 100-yard backstroke champion. 1992 would eventually turn out to be the only year in which Heider did not collect a BIG EAST championship but only by the narrowest of margins as she placed second in the 200-yard individual medley.

As a junior, she returned to the conference stage and promptly ended the brief championship drought, eclipsing all other competitors in the 100-yard butterfly and collecting her third conference title in as many years. The following season, she capped her storied career by defending her crown as she delivered a new BIG EAST record time in the event.

Nearly 20 years later, Heider’s 100-fly time of 56.28 can still be found on the Seton Hall record board and holds the distinction as the longest standing benchmark remaining in the record book.

By the numbers, she unquestionably set the standard by which all Pirate swimmers will be measured and stands as one of only two swimmers in the history of the women’s program to win a BIG EAST Championship along with her teammate, Carla Stetter. Her four individual conference titles matches the totals of men’s soccer and men’s track & field, the two programs that sit alongside each other as the leaders in school history in terms of BIG EAST championships.

While these statistics may be reflective of her impact, it is difficult to quantify the influence of her exploits as she helped pave the way for a number of record-setters that have followed her into the pool at Seton Hall.

Now Jennifer Heider-Berenyi, she currently lives in Tampa, Fla. with her husband and their two daughters.

As a part of the ongoing Where Are They Now? series, she recently answered some questions for SHUPirates.com as part of the lead up to this year’s Hall of Fame event. 

Q: Where do you live now and what are you up to these days?

Heider-Berenyi: I live just slightly north of Tampa, Fla. with my husband, Norbert, and our two daughters, Isabella and Julianna. I have had a varied career, currently

Former Athletic Director Larry Keating
presents Heider with a ring  commemorating
her first BIG EAST Championships

working part-time as the Development Coordinator for the New Tampa Family YMCA.

Q: What is your favorite memory as a Pirate?

Heider-Berenyi: Sitting on the green once the weather finally got above 60 degrees in spring... Our training trip to Florida over winter break my senior year...Accepting an award at halftime of an SHU basketball game after I won my first BIG EAST Championship...13 snow storms my senior year...100 100's on New Year's Eve...some great parties, bus rides, basketball games and a spring break or two with great friends/teammates.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with any of your former teammates and if so, who?

Heider-Berenyi: I do still keep in touch with teammates from both before and after me. I have such a warm spot in my heart for those friends that were in the trenches, er, I mean the pool with me and some of them weren't on scholarship - they did this voluntarily! Thank goodness for Facebook - I wouldn't get to see them with jobs, families and interesting lives of their own without it!

Q: Do you still follow the Pirates and what are your thoughts on the program today?

Heider-Berenyi: I did lose touch with the swim program for a while; it has become so much more competitive! It will be really interesting to see what happens as the newly reorganized conference gets going.  Reconnecting has felt both like a homecoming and a chance to reach out and pay it forward.

Q: You are being inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame on June 10; this is certainly a special honor.  What was your reaction when you first heard you were being inducted and can you explain what this honor means to you?

Heider-Berenyi: I was floored! I actually considered walking around with the acknowledgement letter stapled to my forehead for people to see! Unless you are an Olympian, there aren't too many avenues for you after collegiate swimming. I had no idea that getting a scholarship to SHU, going to all those cold 6:00 a.m. practices, and swimming all those miles and miles of laps would have such far-reaching effects. I consider myself very blessed and honored!

The SHU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2013 also includes former baseball captain Rico Bellini '75, former men’s soccer standout and current men’s soccer head coach Gerson Echeverry ’94, two-time All-American wrestler Joe Burke ’95, and men’s basketball great Andre Barrett ’04.

Check back soon to see the next installment of Where Are They Now? featuring another one of this year’s honorees.  

For more information on the Hall of Fame event, please CLICK HERE

Previous Where Are They Now? Interviews

Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2013 Inductees

 

  Rico Bellini '75 - Baseball

April 17, 2013

Jamie Bosworth - Men's Golf

 
March 27, 2013

 Kristen Downing - Women's Tennis, 1992-97

February 20, 2013

Alumnus Joe "Gyrating Joe" Lorenzo